"Venezuela's interior minister, Diosdado Cabello, said the country's police forces are ready to defend the nation against "any internal or external threat," including what he described as "the most powerful empire in the world." Cabello made the remarks on Friday in Caracas during a handover ceremony of 300 new vehicles to the nation's primary security and emergency agencies, using the event to underline the growing strength and readiness of Venezuela's security forces to safeguard national sovereignty. "Our police officers today say 'present' to defend the homeland like never before, like never before, in perfect popular-military-police unity," said the minister. During the ceremony, Cabello revealed that there are currently over 32,000 applications from young people wishing to join the police forces to reinforce the country's security. Commenting on the drug trafficking, Cabello claimed that Venezuela has recorded a sharp rise in seizures since cutting ties with the US Drug Enforcement Administration earlier this year, saying authorities have confiscated nearly 70 tonnes of drugs. He described the haul as the 'largest in the country's history' following the break with the DEA. Earlier this week, US President Donald Trump intensified pressure on Caracas by announcing an expansion of a partial naval blockade aimed at halting Venezuelan crude exports."